Russia seized initiative as US delayed support: Zelensky

Russia was able to take the initiative on the battlefield while Ukraine waited for the United States to approve new military assistance, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.

American politicians engaged in months of acrimonious debate over how or even whether to continue to back Ukraine, leaving Kyiv's forces facing dire shortages of key artillery and air defense munitions.

"While we were waiting for a decision on the American support, the Russian army managed to seize the initiative on the battlefield," Zelensky said at the opening of a virtual meeting of dozens of Ukraine's international supporters.


"We can still now not only stabilize the front, but also move forward, achieving our Ukrainian goals in the war," he said, while noting that "Ukrainian defenders need your sufficient and timely support."

Zelensky also highlighted the stakes in the conflict, saying that Russian success could breed further aggression.

"Predatory regimes like Russia's are rapidly increasing their appetite for aggression. When they succeed in one part of the world, it creates problems in many other places. Aggression spreads when not stopped," he said.

The United States has been a key military backer of Ukraine, committing more than $44 billion in security assistance since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

But a squabbling Congress had not approved large-scale funding for Kyiv for nearly a year and a half, only finally taking action starting last week to clear the way for new assistance to be provided.

A senior US defense official said Thursday that aid from the United States and other countries "will enable the Ukrainians to begin to retake the initiative," but that "this will not be a rapid process."

"The Ukrainians will need to rebuild quite a bit to take on board all of these new supplies... and ensure that they can defend their positions. So I would not forecast any large-scale offensive in the near-term," the official added.